Popular Culture Review 30.1
performers who behaved like they were not acting and whose words and movements “ seem to break out spontaneously .” Recognizing this , performers often talked to the audience during their acts , though managers urged them not to single out individuals . The singer and comic , Maud Dunn , after cracking a joke that did not work , would urge audience appreciation with the line : “ think it over .” Similarly , Ching Ling Foo , vaudeville ’ s premier Chinese magician , after producing a bowl of rice or a child from under his cloak , would ask the audience in Chinese-American stage dialect : “ you likee ?” Emma Carus , after singing " None of Them ' s Got Anything on Me " to a 1908 New York audience , exclaimed : " I ' m glad that ' s over ." The audience apparently agreed . Animals that refused to perform were common and trainers had to manage the result calmly as audiences were hostile to those who looked like they were angry . Riene Davies , who had a performing bulldog , would apologize for the animal ’ s “ ill manners ” and then offer recitations to fill up the time . Kidding the audience was another common trick . Francis Wilson , the comic sketch artist , used to close her performance with the comment : “ Ladies and Gentlemen : You have behaved beautifully , you have laughed and applauded with an intelligence that is almost human .” 18
Acting as though one was not the key to vaudeville performance . Many players had to present widely contrasting moods and temperaments in their 15 minutes on stage while making each of those feelings appear genuine . Blanche Ring felt the way to put over a song was “ to take the audience into your confidence . Try to make each hearer think that you are singing directly to him or her . All the favorite balladists I have heard have possessed this faculty to a marked degree ... They seem to get right at you ... once a singer gets an audience humming with her , or singing the refrain , then it is easy sail-
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